TECATE  Gusty Santa Ana breezes sent smoke from a fire southeast of Tecate, Mexico, over parts of San Diego County Wednesday, and ash from the blaze fell in areas including Chula Vista, National City and Imperial Beach.

The fire about two miles south of the border was about 600 acres by early afternoon and moving west between Tecate and Tijuana, Cal Fire Capt. Mike Mohler said.

Mohler said Cal Fire had staged five engines and one bulldozer at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry.

Smoke from a brush fire west of Tecate is seen from eastern Tijuana Wednesday afternoon— Sandra Dibble

Smoke from a brush fire west of Tecate is seen from eastern Tijuana Wednesday afternoon
— Sandra Dibble

A tall, brown column of smoke was visible by late morning from Lemon Grove and Rancho San Diego. By the afternoon, smoke had drifted north in the county, causing a brown haze in some areas, including Mission Valley. Mohler said some people erroneously thought that the fire was on the south slope of San Miguel Mountain, southeast of Spring Valley.

Tijuana’s Fire Deparment initially sought Cal Fire air support in fighting the fire, which is in an uninhabited area, said Michael Kieley, the department’s international liaison. But he said they called off the request.

Residents of Ejido Francisco Villa in eastern Tijuana watched as a huge cloud of smoke rose on the other side of the mountain around midday. Fire authorities said no residences were immediately threatened, but the head of the city’s General Hospital urged anyone with symptoms such as respiratory difficulties or nausea from the smoke to seek immediate medical attention.

Alfredo Escobedo, Baja California’s civil protection chief, said that firefighters were protecting a few rural cabins from being burned down. The fire broke out in late morning south of the toll booth at the entrance to the toll road between Tijuana and Tecate, in the vicinity of a mountain known as Cerro San Ysidro, he said.

“The mountain is high, the firefighters can’t climb it, and winds make it dangerous to use a helicopter,” Escobedo said.

Imperial Beach resident Chris Morrow lives near the Tijuana Estuary, where she said the smoke was "pretty dense." She had closed all the windows on her condo and kept her two dogs inside. Ash was blowing in the area.